Ex-Sinclair Station Reporter: Execs Should ‘Pull Their Head Out of Their Ass’

A former Sinclair station reporter spoke out to CNN’s Brian Stelter today about what he witnessed while at WPEC.

Jonathan Beaton recalled how he wanted out of the “culture of chaos” but was told if he tried to leave he would have to pay $25,000. Sinclair ended up filing a lawsuit and Beaton recently wrote about the ongoing legal battle.

He told Stelter that the conservative bias in news coverage “comes from the top down,” saying it’s very different than MSNBC and Fox News where you know you’re getting a very clear point of view.

“They tell you what stories you can or can’t do,” he said, “and what angles you must take.”

New York Magazine Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzirecently reported on media-bashing comments from the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group she received and she talked to Stelter about how shockingly blunt it was.

Stelter asked Beaton what advice he would give the company executives. Beaton got right to the point:

“I’d tell them to pull their head out of their ass and start treating their employees well… It was a culture of misogyny and xenophobia and I don’t want to see my former colleagues who are still working for Sinclair have to continue to sustain that.”